On the probable absence of GABA receptors on the terminations of motor axon collaterals in the cat spinal cord

Abstract

When administered microelectrophoretically, GABA and the GABA-mimetic piperidine-4-sulphonic acid (P4S) appear to have no direct hyperpolarizing or depolarizing effect on the terminations of motor axon collaterals excited electrically in the ventral horn of the lumbar spinal cord of the cat. This lack of effect on axon terminals of motoneurones, which contrasts with the bicuculline-sensitive depolarization by P4S of the spinal terminals of primary afferent fibres, is consistent with previous reports of the probable absence of pharmacologically detectable GABA receptors on the spinal terminals of other central excitatory neurones, namely those of the red and lateral vestibular nuclei.